


Madame President

by pippen2112



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Awkward Flirting, Developing Relationship, F/F, Implied Sexual Content, RvB Ladies Week, post s13
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-30
Updated: 2018-06-30
Packaged: 2019-05-31 09:10:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15116282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pippen2112/pseuds/pippen2112
Summary: Carolina gets caught off guard and is very bad at flirting.  Luckily Kimball has her covered.Written for RvB Ladies Week





	Madame President

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ConfessionForAnotherTime](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ConfessionForAnotherTime/gifts).



> Written for ConfessionForAnotherTime's prompt: Carolina's awkward flirting with Kimball now that Locus is gone and Chorus can rebuild.

Carolina freezes a half step inside Kimball’s office. For one thing, it’s the middle of the night and the Office of the Interim President of Chorus has officially been closed for hours. For another, Carolina thought she’d sneak in and review the plans Kimball had asked her look over, get a leg up on work now that she and Wash are back from another mission scouting locations the new capital. For a third, the woman herself, President Kimball, is sitting behind her desk, illuminated by a dim lamp, her helmet carefully perched on a shelf behind her.

“Agent Carolina?”

It takes Carolina a moment to come back to herself. Kimball’s not wearing her helmet. They’ve been working together for the better part of a year—the last nine months of the civil war and nearly three months of peace—and in all that time, she’s never once seen Kimball without her helmet. Then again, maybe that says more about how Carolina has been working herself to the bone and throwing herself into every available mission since Epsilon went up into the Staff of Charon and never came out. Everyone handles grief in their own way.

Still, it is Kimball’s office, and Carolina did pick the lock on the door. Her hand clenches around the door knob. “I thought you’d be out for the night.”

Kimball ducks her head slightly, her dark cheeks turning pinker. She folds her hands together, sets them on her desk, and sighs. “Even if the war’s over, the paperwork never stops.”

“Sounds like something Doyle would say.”

A beat of silence passes between them. Kimball glances down at the desk, rubbing her thumb across her scarred knuckles as she considers. “Yes. It does.”

Even in the dim light of the office, Carolina can see the weight hanging on Kimball’s shoulders. Guilt and fatigue and years and years of standing tall and strong wearing her thin. Fine lines are etched around her dark eyes. Her kinky curls are braided down against her head, not a gray hair to be seen. Carolina’s breath catches in her chest; she always knew most of the soldiers on Chorus were young, but seeing Kimball’s round cheeks and slumped posture gives her pause. Not for the first time, Carolina wishes she could do something to ease the weight of loss on Kimball’s shoulders. If only she knew how.

“Is there something I can help you with, Agent Carolina?”

 _I’m alright, but I’d be better if you’d sit on my face._ Her eyes bulge, and her face heats up. Thank God she’s too tired to actually voice her thoughts. She doesn’t know what she’d do with herself if she’d put choked on her own foot.

“Carolina?” Kimball stands and crosses the room toward her. She tugs off her greaves and lays a warm, calloused palm against Carolina’s forehead. “You’re awfully flushed.”

Carolina’s spine goes rigid, but she can’t bring herself to pull away. “I’m fine,” she blurts, a touch too loud. She squeezes her eyes shut and tries again. “My face is fine. Just the way it is.”

“You’re not wrong.”

Her hands clench at her sides as she tries to swallow another spike of panic. But the glimmer of a grin at the corner of Kimball’s lips soothes a portion of her shock and helps her to recover. “Um, thank you?”

Now, Kimball smiles, clearly pleased despite the sunken circles around her eyes. She takes a step back, schooling her expression into something a little more professional. “You should get some sleep, Carolina. I’m sure whatever brought you here will be better in the morning.”

But the thought of going back to her bunk and the memories of her lost teammates sends a chill through her. She doesn’t shudder, but she doesn’t turn to leave either. “You could join me.”

Kimball startles. “I’m…sorry?”

 _Why did I have to say it like that?_ If she were younger, she’d hold her head in her hands and pray for a base-wide distress siren to save her. Now, well, she knows she doesn’t need a disaster to save her, but she almost wishes Caboose would trigger the fire alarm.

“You look like you could use a break, too,” she finally says, her cheeks burning with each passing word. “Not necessarily with me, but I’ve been told I’m a great cuddle buddy.”

For a long moment, Kimball gazes down at her feet, her hands twisting together in front of her. She seems to lean forward on the balls of her feet, but she casts a guilty glance over her shoulder at her desk.

Carolina offers her hand. “The planet can hold itself together for a few hours, Madame President.”

“Vanessa,” she corrects as she takes Carolina’s hand. “Anyone who gets me into bed better call me by my name.”

Carolina blushes, grinning. “Vanessa.”

**Author's Note:**

> Questions, comments, and concrit welcome! Come scream with me on Tumblr (birdsbeesandlemonadetrees.tumblr.com)


End file.
